After next season, the Ohio football program likely will be saying goodbye to the bye week.
On April 28, the NCAA approved a proposal that allows Division I-A teams to schedule 12 games per season beginning in 2006 instead of the current limit of 11.
The NCAA board of directors, concerned for athletes' academics, did not want to lengthen the season to add the extra game, so to accommodate the additional game the bye week, a team's only break during the season, would be eliminated.
Defensive back Tony Ward is not in favor of the new schedule.
I think it's going to hurt us
he said. That's the week we give our bodies rest during the season. That's a very important week for us.
Quarterbacks coach Gerry Gdowski acknowledged the importance of the bye but also pointed out the potential downfalls of the week off.
The bye week was maybe nice at some times if you were banged up or injured Gdowski said. Sometimes bye weeks are tough too
because you might be on a little bit of a roll
and all of a sudden you have to take a week off. You kind of lose some of the momentum that maybe you had established for a few weeks. Bye weeks are good and bad both.
Gdowski suggested that the positives of more games outweigh the negatives of losing the opportunity for rest.
Being an ex-player and being a coach and knowing the players
you want to play games
he said. That's what you work a long time in the off-season and all that
and you only get a very limited number of opportunities to show what you can do. The main thing is
I think
people love to compete -as coaches
as players
